XQ-67A Combat Drone From General Atomics Breaks Cover

[william]

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has released images of a brand new, fully-constructed advanced air combat drone called the XQ-67A. The company built it as part of a contract to support the U.S. Air Force's secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program. Though an explicit connection has not been made, there have been indications in the past that this design leverages work the company is doing on Gambit, a novel family of advanced drones that involves different airframes that can be mated to a modular common 'core' chassis.
The pictures of the XQ-67A shown in this story were taken at an undisclosed location.

As people learn more about the XQ-67A OBSS and how the Air Force Research Laboratory and General Atomics have approached this project, they’ll discover it really is unlike anything they’ve seen so far.” The design is broadly similar in basic configuration to General Atomics' own Avenger, as well as Boeing's MQ-25 Stingray tanker, and Kratos' XQ-58 Valkyrie.
Details about the OBSS program itself remain very limited. From what information is available, The War Zone has explored in the past how it looks to be tied to efforts to extend the sensor reach of crewed combat aircraft, with at least one possible focus being on the air-to-air role and infrared search and track (IRST) systems.
General Atomics has for years been demonstrating capabilities using its stealthy Avenger drones that could be relevant to OBSS. Avengers have regularly flown with podded IRST sensors and worked together with other real and simulated platforms during complex testing events. Some of these tests have been tied to autonomy and artificial-enabled drone operations for air-to-air combat scenarios. IRSTs are immune to radio frequency jamming and can spot stealthy targets that radars may not be able to 'see.’ This is becoming especially critical as stealthy crewed and uncrewed aircraft, as well as cruise missiles, are now proliferating around the globe.

IRSTs also offer a complementary capability to radars and can scan for threats passively, without emitting any electromagnetic radiation. This reduces the risk that an enemy will be alerted to the fact that they've been spotted or even searched for at all. Such systems on multiple OBSS drones that are networked together and operating forward, could quickly triangulate the location of potential threats and send that information to fighter aircraft, air defense systems, or even other drones, to prosecute.

General Atomics is developing new uncrewed aircraft production lines,

XQ-67A Combat Drone From General Atomics Breaks Cover

The secretive Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS) program now has a real aircraft, and it's likely a glimpse of much more to come.

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